Chapter 13

As we ate dessert—Pete insisting their bread and butter pudding was to die for—I wondered if, despite my reservations, we could make a go of it. Not all gay couples did anal. We could use sex toys, could certainly suck each other, give each other handjobs. Yeah, maybe, if we worked at it we could perhaps have a future.

After a bit of wrangling we agreed to split the bill and Pete drove me home. It was during the journey I realised we were much quieter than on the drive into town. In fact, as the meal had gone on, Pete had steadily become quieter. It was a comfortable quietness though.

Pete parked outside my block of flats and walked me to the front door of my block.

Pete let out a breath, turned to face me and rested his forehead against mine and sighed again. “You’re a really great guy, Mike.”

“But,” I whispered.

“But it wouldn’t work between us, as boyfriends I mean.”

I flashed back to my earlier thoughts about possible ways it could work but…It was my turn to sigh. “No.”